NIA RAIDS FIVE MORE J&K AREAS IN TERROR FUNDING CASE; MUFTI CALLS IT GOVT SELF-GOAL

SRINAGAR: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday conducted raids at five more locations linked to the alleged members of the banned Jamaate-Islami (JeI) group in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, as part of its probe into a terror funding case.

On Sunday, the central agency raided 56 locations linked to the alleged JeI members across 14 districts in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Centre banned the JeI for five years after the Pulwama attack, in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers were killed, under antiterror laws on the grounds that it was “in close touch” with terror outfits and was likely to “escalate secessionist movement” in the region.

“During the searches, various incriminating documents and electronic devices were seized from the premises of the suspects,” an NIA spokesperson said. PDP president Mehbooba Mufti termed the NIA raids a “self-goal” for the Centre. “NIA raids on Jamaat is emblematic of GOI (Government of India) waging a war against its so called ‘integral part’. Instead of fighting an ideology with a better idea it is crushing contrarian thought with an iron fist,” she tweeted.

Terror plot foiled in J&K ahead of I-Day: Forces

Security forces in on Monday claimed to have foiled a terror plot, ahead of the 75th Independence Day, by recovering a large cache of arms and ammunitions including AK 47 assault rifles, hand grenades, detonators and pistols in Jammu’s Poonch. In a separate incident in Kishtwar district, police arrested two terrorists of Hizbul Mujahideen.